Things I’ve Aquired | A Cumulative Haul

Some would say that I have a shopping problem. I prefer to say that I like to spoil my horse.

Most of this stuff has been purchased over the past few months—between SmartPak’s sales around the holidays and needing things for the barn move (blog coming on that soon, I promise), my wallet has been crying a lot lately.

SmartPak SmartPink® Stable Blanket
This was just the beginning of a random spurt of blanket buying. I typically don’t buy stable blankets—I’d prefer to spend my money on a turnout—but this one was on sale and then marked down even more in the SmartPak attic. The puffy stable blankets that I do have don’t have a slippery lining on the inside, so they stick to Ax and rub unless I put a full-body sleazy underneath. For $30, I snagged this one and told myself that I would get rid of the other ones. (Spoiler: I haven’t.)

SmartPak Air+ Neoprene Girth
Ax and I are in a committed relationship to my Professionals Choice VenTECH girth but it was getting a little tight. Since he usually slims down during show season and that is my main use for it, I picked this dupe up in a size bigger for everyday use. If you want the features of the VenTECH in a cheaper, slightly less pretty package this is it.

Stretchies Shoulder Guard
My lovely horse managed to rip the elastic off of his and I was going to just last the rest of blanket season with the full-body one, but there was one on sale on my next trip to SmartPak so I picked it up.

SmartPak Medium Diamond Deluxe AP Saddle Pad and SmartPak Lite AP Saddle Pad
Back in November SmartPak had a free saddle pad embroidery deal that this monogramaholic was not going to pass up. Do I need more pads? No. Did I want more pads? Yes. I’d never tried the SmartPak brand pads (because I am a pad snob) but ordered the Deluxe in black/white trim/grey binding and the Lite in white/grey binding and had them both monogrammed in grey—boring, I know. So far I’ve gotten a lot of use out of them and they’re holding up really well.

Blanket Bar and Bridle Hook
The blanket bars on the stalls at the new barn were super narrow and didn’t fit much more than one blanket. I swapped it out for this one and moved the old one to the tack room for extra saddle pads and coolers. The bridle hook was needed for my abundance of bridles for my one horse.

Wrap RackThis was actually a “call ahead and drive all the way to Dover Saddlery to buy the last one” purchase because for some reason no tack shops had one in stock when I needed it. It is a magical organization device and I don’t know why I ever kept my wraps in my tack trunk.

SmartPak Ultimate High Neck Turnout Blanket
I’d been on the hunt for a high neck medium weight for a while, but hadn’t found one at a price I was willing to pay when I didn’t need it. Right when I did need it because I sheared Ax like a sheep this one was marked down in the SmartPak attic and was one of the last 78″ blankets they had up there.

Tailored Sportsman Trophy Hunter Breeches in Black and Blue
Who can say no to Tailoreds when they are 50% off? Once again, I’m forever thankful for the SmartPak attic for supplying me with my favorite breeches for way less.

Baker BlanketFinally something that I didn’t buy at an actual tack shop. A long-running barn about an hour away from me closed and they have been having sales to get rid of their stuff. A friend and I went up one day to take a peek and they had a stack of Bakers for $40 each. For that price, Ax can destroy the thing and I wouldn’t feel bad, and I can get rid of the one I currently have that is too small.

Back On Track Classic Leg Wraps
These were the only other thing I got from the tack sale and I only got them because I was pretty intrigued. They’re definitely not thick enough to be no bows on their own and the seams made me think that they couldn’t be bandage liners. The woman selling them told me that they are to be used underneath normal no bows if you don’t have the Back On Track ones. A little research showed that they are the old-school Classic Leg Wrap (the new version has one edge with no seams) that are made to go under a standing wrap and aren’t sold in the US or Canada. I paid basically nothing for a set of three (one was missing and they didn’t want to have just a single left so they gave it to me), so they’re a cool find even if I don’t use them.

Ogilvy Baby PadAnother saddle pad. The tack sale wasn’t too far from New Hampshire’s Dover Saddlery (AKA the only good Dover) and neither of us had been since they moved their clearance basement to an entire building. This was obviously someone’s returned pad because the monogram was wrong or something along those lines and it was only $20. Thanks OMD, whoever you are, for not wanting your pad.